Wave Power

Although autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are electrically-powered, they're launched from fuel-burning surface vessels. A new, more environmentally-friendly system is being designed to replace those ships with wave-powered underwater AUV stations.

Following a second grid-connected project at Jaffa Port in Israel, Eco Wave Power is looking to get more from its energy harvesters by adding solar.

​Back in 2012, Eco Wave Power started testing a wave energy harvesting system that could be installed on existing structures like breakwaters and piers. The company switched on its first grid-connected project four years later, and has now announced the second.​

​Although we've seen a number of experimental wave-power systems in recent years, a new one is claimed to be less expensive and to incorporate fewer moving parts, while still remaining durable in rough seas. It's known as a Dielectric Elastomer Generator, or DEG for short.

Many of the autonomous watercraft we've seen so far follow traditional designs. The AutoNaut is a little different, packing solar-powered sensors for monitoring marine wildlife and ocean conditions and getting to where it needs to be using energy harvested from the waves it rides on.​​

Tetrapods are often used to protect coastlines from eroding away under the constant barrage of waves. Now a project from OIST has outlined plans for turbines that would sit alongside tetrapods, helping to not only dissipate wave energy, but harvest it.

Wind and solar power are proving themselves viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Ocean waves could pitch in too, and Australian company Wave Swell Energy is developing a new device to harvest that energy. New Atlas spoke to Dr. Tom Denniss, the CEO of the company, to find out about the technology.

​An American startup is looking to turn seawater into drinking water using only the motion of the ocean.

​Last month, Gizmag was on the ground in Gibraltar as EWP inaugurated the first ever grid-connected wave power station in Europe. With the Gibraltar station off to a good start, we sat down with EWP’s co-founders Inna Braverman and David Leb to discuss the present and future of the company.

Gizmag was in Gibraltar at the ribbon cutting event for EWP's innovative wave energy station, installed on the ammunition jetty in the tiny-yet-iconic British territory. The event itself was brief, but its significance could be huge.

While world leaders meet in Paris to discuss reducing carbon emissions believed to contribute to climate change, the government of Gibraltar is putting its own renewable energy plan into action.

Although wave energy-harvesting systems are often just presented as concepts, one was recently deployed in Hawaii to provide power to the municipal grid. Built by Northwest Energy Innovations, the Azura device will remain in operation for a 12-month assessment period.